Like Antony faithfully serves power, Brutus faithfully devotes himself to honor, holding himself to only the highest moral standard. This unyielding devotion; however, frequently Blinds him to his own hypocrisy and causes him to make grave mistakes under the false internal belief that everyone else too hold honor in the highest regard. When Cassius first manipulated Brutus into joining the conspiracy by sending letter praising his honor, the thought does not even occur to Brutus that the letters could be faked. He falsely assumes they were genuine like himself, not merely taking advantage of the fact that he "sits high" (1. 1. 590). Devotion to honor blinds him again after the murder of Caesar. Believing that both the Audience and Antony will nobly understand and agree with the conspirators choice to kill the tyrant because they "have respect to mine [Brutus'] honour" (3. 2. 148), he presents a very logos-driven speech to Rome. He also accepts Antony's false, noble flattery, and lets him give a manipulative speech to enrage the people against Brutus because Brutus does not understand emotion. He even assess his wife on logical standards of nobility, complimenting her as a "true and honourable wife" (2. 1. 916). Brutus and his wife have no connection or love due to his devotion to honor. Ultimately, Brutus reaches acceptance of his blind devotion to honor by the play's end and realizes "Brutus' tongue / Hath almost ended his life's history" (5. 5. 2717-18), but is okay with his failure because he acted "with half so good a will" (5. 5. 2735). He may have failed to secure the best interests of Rome, but he at least tried his best to do so honorably, so there is nothing more he could have done and he dies with no regrets. Brutus' character shows the audience through example that while devotion to honor and high moral standards may be noble, such devotion can have severe consequences.
